


Temptation

by Arkanna



Category: Legacy of Kain
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 04:56:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10632666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arkanna/pseuds/Arkanna
Summary: Even at their age, Kain's fledglings still failed, on occasion, to obey his commands.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Legacy of Kain or any of its characters.

A small two room shack huddled against the base of the mountain. The canyon surrounding it was long but narrow, no more than a couple hundred feet at its widest with a narrow stream cutting across its opposite side where it narrowed into a blind bend. The water created a small oasis in the otherwise desolate environment. A number of bushes, shrubs and even a few scraggly trees lined both sides of the streambed densely enough to make passage difficult.

Kain glared at his fledglings. “I said I will be gone no more than a fortnight!” His voice easily penetrated the flimsy walls of the shack and echoed down the canyon.

“But Sire . . . “ Turel began.

“Silence! This is not open for debate!”

Melchiah and Zephon winced at the sheer volume of his voice.

“You will remain within the canyon and not go beyond the stream. Do I make myself clear?!”

“Yes, Sire,” was the rather sullen chorused response.

“You may do as you like, explore as you like but do not go beyond the stream,” he growled, narrowing his eyes at both Turel and Dumah. Raziel had more sense than to question Kain's orders and the three youngest had no desire to incur his wrath.

When no more arguments were forthcoming, he glared at all of them one last time then strode through the door and disappeared into the night.

“Where do you think he's going?” Zephon eventually asked.

“That is Kain's business and none of our concern,” Raziel said at length though he was just as curious. He glanced at Turel and Dumah. Their upset was clearly evident but even they would not risk Kain's rage, or so he thought.

 

After four days, the canyon had been thoroughly explored right down to the tiniest cave. The stream meandered across the canyon floor. It was wide enough to make jumping across the water an uncomfortable thought and deep enough, in places, to be fatal should a misstep occur.

Zephon discovered that a rather large patch of bushes were actually thorny briers after a brief scuffle with Dumah resulted in him becoming intimately acquainted with their vicious little spines.

Raziel had made a quick circuit of the canyon, more to satisfy himself that there were no hidden dangers than anything else. As the eldest, it was his unspoken duty to insure the safety of the rest of his brothers. He had no desire for Kain to take it out on his hide should something happen to one of them.

 

Eleven days after Kain left his fledglings to their own devices found them less than pleased with their circumstance. Rahab, Zephon and Melchiah were complaining of hunger and while Turel and Dumah grumbled, Raziel chose to endure it stoically. Kain had said fourteen days. He would return soon and then he would allow them to hunt.

In the false light just before dawn, Raziel was perched on his customary ledge overlooking most of the canyon when he thought he felt a familiar presence. Before he could do more than look in its direction, there was a commotion followed by a piercing scream from the other end of the canyon. He was gone in a flash, snarling to himself, hoping that his brothers were not being foolish.

 

Dawn was fast approaching, sunrise, perhaps, an hour away. Kain stood atop the canyon wall in the predawn light and growled at the scene that was unfolding below.

 

Turel had spotted her first. A human female, near one of the deeper pools, filling several flasks with water. Her eyes continuously roamed over both banks looking for signs of danger. His low growl alerted the others and five sets of hungry eyes stared at the lone woman.

“How shall we do this?” Dumah whispered.

“I can easily span the distance,” Turel shrugged. “It will be easy to take her.”

Rahab hissed at his brother, “She is wary and will see you even if you could jump twice that distance. It will take two of us to insure she is caught.” He glanced around at the rest.

Melchiah backed away, “I cannot make that jump nor would I go against Kain's orders.”

Zephon found himself suddenly in agreement, he had no desire to stir Kain' s anger.

“Fools! Kain will not know!” Dumah growled.

“Raziel . . .”

“Raziel is not here!”

Melchiah and Zephon remained adamant.

Rahab shrugged, “If they will not aid in her capture then they will get nothing. She will be ours.”

Dumah and Turel agreed.

Zephon started to protest but Melchiah pulled him away, “Leave it be brother, no good will come of this.” Zephon glanced at him then slowly nodded, giving the rest a dark glare.

 

Rahab was correct. The female saw Turel long before he made the leap and, dropping her flasks, broke into a dead run. She did not miss Dumah's leap either and swerved into denser cover. A moment later, they had her trapped, her back against the canyon wall still within sight of the stream and Rahab who was about to leap across. Turel lunged at her and she screamed, throwing something hard against the ground.

An incredible flash of light blinded the fledglings long enough for her to break away and disappear beyond the bend. Turel and Dumah clawed angrily at their eyes, bloody tears streaming down their faces. Even after their vision returned, bright specks and colorful auras blossomed around everything. The wretched woman had used some sort of magic against them.

Raziel arrived just in time to grab Rahab and throw him to the ground. The flash had affected him more than his elder brothers and he had been one step away from his second death.

“Turel! Dumah! What the hell are you doing?!”

“Hunting!” Turel all but shouted, still rubbing at his eyes, “which is more than can be said for you! You would have us starve waiting here for Kain's return.”

“Fool!” Raziel snarled, easily leaping the stream. “Not only have you disobeyed Kain's orders, you have alerted the humans to our presence! Not only were you unsuccessful in this ill thought out farce, you were bested by a human—a female human!” He savagely knocked Turel to the ground and stood over him glaring. “Did you not think? Did it not occur to you to wonder why anyone would be out at this hour much less alone?! That in and of itself should have given you pause. You're lucky she was nothing more than a peasant with a simple magic trick!”

A low menacing growl cut his tirade short. Raziel spun around to face the new threat. His eyes went wide at the sight of the black dire-wolf that slowly paced seemingly out of the very darkness itself. Its glowing golden eyes boring straight through to his soul.

Turel struggled to his feet a moment before the black beast lunged. The sudden movement broke Raziel out of his paralysis and he shoved Dumah out of the beast's reach. He noticed motion out of the corner of his eye.

“Zephon! Grab Rahab and get yourself and Melchiah back to the shack—NOW!”

His younger brothers obeyed without question, dragging the still dazed Rahab through the brush.

Turel slammed his back against Raziel's, eyeing the slowly circling wolf. Neither had any weapons past their own claws. A dire-wolf was nothing to be trifled with especially for mere fledglings.

“GO!” Turel ordered Dumah, noticing him attempting to creep towards the stream. The beast noticed him at the same time and turned to pounce but Turel slashed at it, diverting its attention. The wolf's jaws snapped shut on the air where Turel's hand had been but a moment before. Taking his chance, Dumah made the leap and slipped, nearly tipping back into the water in panic before gaining his footing and vanishing into the trees.

The wolf turned its eyes on the two remaining fledglings. Slowly circling, looking for an opportunity to strike as they edged closer to the water.

“When we are close enough,” Raziel whispered lowly, eyeing a large thick branch not too far away, “get across the stream and make sure the others remain safe.”

“Why . . .”

“I am the eldest, you will do as you are told!” His hand snaked out lightening fast and grabbed the branch. “I would rather die at the jaws of this beast than face Kain's anger should I be founding wanting in my duty to protect my younger siblings.”

“You fear . . “ Turel began, glancing at Raziel out of the corner of his eye.

“You do not know his rage,” Raziel replied. There was something in the way he spoke that made Turel shiver.

A moment later, Turel took a chance and ran towards the water. In that instant, the wolf sprang after the fleeing vampire. Raziel brought the branch around intending to smash it into the wolf's head, but the beast caught it in its jaws, splintering it, knocking Raziel to the ground. He scrambled back from the snapping jaws even as he heard Turel make the opposite bank.

Raziel managed to roll into a crouch and eyed the wolf as it paced closer. Without his brother's distractions, he realized there was something almost familiar about the beast. Something tickled at the back of his mind, a vague memory or perhaps a sensation. He looked a bit more closely, there was still that familiar presence in the air.

“S . sire?” Raziel whispered trying to get a better look at the animal.

The great wolf locked its golden eyes on the vampire, stalking forwards with a low snarling growl. It lunged suddenly, its jaws snapping shut in the space where Raziel's throat had been only a moment before. The sounds of the fledgling wildly retreating through the underbrush echoed off the narrow canyon walls.

If he had been a bit more observant, Raziel would have noticed two things. One, the wolf had avoided actually fording the small stream at all costs and two, the sound of darksome laughter drifting on the night breeze.

 


End file.
